Update: It was Carter who first spotted the body. See details below

---

Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter, 56, was most likely in a rowboat on the Potamac River in Washington, DC on Wednesday when she called 911 to report a body floating in the river. Many outlets are reporting that Carter was canoeing, but it sounds like she was in a rowboat and is the person who called for emergency services, not the first person who spotted the body. Local ABC 7 News reports that a person in a canoe flagged down other boats, which called 911. It’s a little confusing, but since they say she was out of a rowing club and was rowing, it makes sense that she was in a rowboat, not a canoe:

“Middle-aged woman was found floating in the water about a quarter mile north of three sisters island. She was found by a canoer. The canoer flagged down some boats and they called Fire and EMS,” said D.C. Fire and EMS spokesperson Scott Kane.

Sources told ABC 7 News, former television star, actress Lynda Carter, of ‘Wonder Woman” fame, called 911 after seeing Johnstone’s body floating north of the 3500 block of Water Street.

Carter had been out on the water rowing when it happened, but left the private Potomac boat club abruptly without giving comment.

[From WJLA.com]

The victim is identified as 47 year-old DC resident Helen Johnstone. It is thought that she was hiking and fell into the river. She had car keys in her pocket and was wearing a backpack with a raincoat in it. An autopsy is pending. Our thoughts go out to the family. That must have been a shock to find a body and you wonder if Carter is going to avoid rowing for a while.

Lynda Carter is shown on 12/13/07 at the premiere of National Treasure: Book of Secrets, thanks to WENN.

Update The Associated Press reports that Carter was the first to spot the body, and that she was the person alone in a boat who called for help from other boats nearby. Earlier reports were confusing as to her role as we are sorry for reporting this incorrectly at first.

Lynda Carter tells The Washington Post she was alone in a boat when she saw the body Wednesday. She says she didn’t have a cell phone with her, so she yelled to some fishermen and asked them to call police. Carter waited until rescuers arrived and directed them to the body.

District of Columbia police say the body of 47-year-old Helen Johnstone of Washington was found floating on the river Wednesday. The medical examiner’s office has not declared an official cause of death.

Carter says she “did what anybody would have done.”

[From AP via News.Yahoo.com]